China ends India's unbeaten run in a close encounter

Hong Kong, Sep 6 (UNI) India's winning streak came to screeching halt today as they were outplayed 2-4 by tournament favourites China in a highly charged pool A encounter played at the Kings Park Hockey ground here.

With this win fancied China emerged as the pole position holder in pool A, while India finished in second spot.

For China the victory did not come easy as underdogs India played to their own strength and slowed the game down particularly in the first half. This tactic tended to unsettle China as the Indians matched the favourites for stickwork and hockey skills that brought two goals in India's favour in the first half.

As expected China used their pace and power to great effect from the outset and opened the scoring in the 4th minute with a field goal scored by Li Hong Xia following a goalmouth melee.

India neutralised the lead in the 7th minute after Surinder Kaur broke down the left hand side and beat the China defence with superb stickwork to put the ball on Jasjeet Kaur's stick who made no mistake with her shot.

India's best passage of play in the game then followed as the pace slowed to their liking.

The partisan Indian crowd watching the game almost went ballistic when Saba Anjum netted India's second goal from an open play after Surinder Kaur made yet another run down the left to make the score 2-1 in their favour.

But the Chinese continued to do what they do best, use their superior pace and power only to get the reward in the 33rd minute when Tang Chun Ling converted a penalty corner to level the scores at at the half time break.

However, after the resumption of play, a tiring Indian side were no match to their higher-ranked opponent as China powered their way to take the lead in the 47th minute through a penalty corner conversion from Zhou Wan Feng.

Tang Chun Ling then scored her second goal of the match from open play to seal a well deserved 4-2 win for China.

India now take on the formidable Koreans in Saturday's first semi-final, while China are up against Japan.

UNI